Spottedleaf's Creation
by Heronfeather
Summary: When Spottedleaf "Dies" in the Great Battle, she believes she'll simple cease to exist. However, there is another level of existence beyond StarClan, and after receiving a prophecy from one such level, she finds herself at the center of a disaster of her own creation.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_The tortoiseshell she-cat stood in a _sun-lit forest, the dappled light filtering down through the leaves. She breathed deeply, relishing the peacefulness and beauty of her surroundings. It was so quiet… only the sweet songs of birds broke the silence. It was perfect.

A twig snapped.

The she-cat whirled toward the sound, her fur on end. Unsheathing her claws, she prepared to defend herself from the threat.

A pale she-cat stepped from the undergrowth, her tail down and her fur flat, clearly trying to look unthreatening. The tortoiseshell smoothed her own fur but kept her claws unsheathed, just in case it was a trick.

"Hello, Spottedleaf. I mean you no harm; I simply wish to talk."

Something in the she-cat's voice made Spottedleaf believe that she meant what she said, and she sheathed her claws.

"Who are you? I've never seen you in StarClan?"

"I haven't belonged to StarClan in a very long time. I did once; it fact, I discovered it and brought it to the Clans. I am Moth Flight, the first medicine cat."

Spottedleaf started. The _first_ medicine cat? "But… but the Clans have existed for countless generations! How can you be the first? You would have been forgotten and faded long ago!"

"I did. But did you honestly think StarClan is the only place for cats after they die? The Clans are not the only cats that matter, Spottedleaf. What about the kittypets? The loners, the rogues? My own parents were rogues once. The Clans have StarClan, the Tribe of Rushing Water has the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and even the cats who don't belong to an organized group with a Code of honor, who don't believe that there is life after death, go _somewhere._ They don't just cease to exist. And there are multiple levels of existence. StarClan isn't the end."

"Why are you here, Moth Flight?" Spottedleaf decided that she should get to the point. As much as she'd like to chat with the first medicine cat, she figured she hadn't come down from the "next level", whatever that meant, to exchange gossip. There had to be a _reason._

Moth Flight seemed to realize she was rambling. She stopped and took a breath. "Okay; let me start over. I have a message for you, Spottedleaf, but my time on this level is limited; I have to go soon."

"But _I'm_ not the one wasting time!"

Moth Flight gave me a withering look. "Listen. I would love to get to know you better and waste time with you, but not right now. I just needed to tell you—"

She stopped short as a beautiful green moth fluttered by. "My moth!" Moth Flight began to leap and bat at the moth as it drifted away. "Wait for me!"

"Moth Flight! What about the message?"

She looked back at Spottedleaf, but her mind seemed elsewhere. Spottedleaf got the sense that this was a cat who was easily distracted. "Oh, yeah. Uh…" she began to follow the moth again and called over her shoulder as she pranced away, "_Never trust what you believe will guide you, for it will only lead you astray."_

And she was gone.

Spottedleaf woke with a start. It was dark; stars and a half-moon glittered above. For a moment she was disoriented; what had happened? Why was she thinking about moths? Then her dream came rushing back all at once.

_But… that doesn't make any sense,_ she thought. _It was like a dream from StarClan, but I'm already _in _StarClan!_ She remembered what Moth Flight had said about other levels of existence, but how could anything exist beyond StarClan? _It must have just been a regular dream._


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

_Spottedleaf thought back to her dream _as she watched the scene unfolding before her. Sandstorm and Dovewing had appeared nearby, and Sandstorm was staring up through the trees.

"I saw a claw-scratch of moonlight," she breathed. "That must be a good sign."

"Not for the Clans." From within the ferns, a malicious voice snarled.

"Who are you?" Sandstorm queried, bristling.

"You should _know_ who I am," the cat hissed. "ThunderClan destroyed my life!"

"What's your name?" Sandstorm asked, frowning.

A Dark Forest she-cat stepped out of the shadows. "My name's Mapleshade!" Hissing, she sprang at Sandstorm, landing on her and pushing her muzzle into the earth.

"I'm going to make you pay for every blessing StarClan gave you!" Mapleshade growled into Sandstorm's ear. "And every blessing they stole from me!

"You have everything _I_ wanted, Sandstorm! A mate that loved me, kits that I could watch grow up and have kits of their own, the respect of my Clanmates! I should have had all that!" Mapleshade's eyes shone with fury as she grasped Sandstorm's throat in her jaws.

Spottedleaf couldn't watch anymore. "Let her go!" Spottedleaf darted from the ferns and ripped Mapleshade away from Sandstorm. She flung Mapleshade to the ground.

"Spottedleaf!" she hissed, scrambling upward. "Why didn't you let me kill her? She stole Firestar's love from you."

She had hit a nerve, but the tortoiseshell wasn't going to let it show. "There was nothing to steal. Sandstorm made him happy!"

Mapleshade lunged at her. Spottedleaf's paws flailed as she fell. Snarling, Mapleshade tore into her throat.

"No!" Firestar's screech ripped through the air. He exploded from the ferns, grabbed Mapleshade in his claws, and threw her backward. Sandstorm leaped into the fray, and they became a whirl of teeth and claws. At least… that's all Spottedleaf could see. The world was growing fuzzy. Suddenly Mapleshade, shrieking with pain, pelted up the slope, Sandstorm racing after.

Firestar crouched beside Spottedleaf, who realized she was trembling. He pressed against her blood-stained pelt. "Spottedleaf! Please don't go." His mew held a sob. "You promised you'd be there to welcome me."

Spottedleaf struggled to shake her head. "That was never going to happen, my love. I cannot journey with you anymore. I'm so sorry."

Firestar pawed at her. "No! I still need you!"

"Let her go."

"Yellowfang?" Firestar's pleading eyes rose to the matted fur of the StarClan cat. "Don't let her disappear. Please."

"This was her destiny." Yellowfang, tough as she was, had always had a soft spot for Firestar, and she let it show now. "Let her follow it."

"But she said she'd wait for me in StarClan!" Spottedleaf hadn't known his mew could be so heartwrenching. She had to say something, before she lost the chance.

She looked at him, opening her mouth, though she had no idea how she could say all the words she wanted to in such a short time. With a small gasp, she fell limp.

The world blurred and went black around her.

A prodding on her shoulder woke Spottedleaf. "Is it dead?" a small voice mewed.

"Of course she is, dear. We all are. She's just… _new,_ that's all. Give her a minute to wake and orient herself."

Blinking her eyes at the brightness around her, Spottedleaf carefully rose to her paws and peered curiously at what had caused her to wake.

A white kit was staring at her with wide blue eyes. She stared back.

"Uh… what?"

She felt so stupid. But that was all she could come up with.

The owner of the second voice, a calico she-cat who was probably the kit's mother, put her tail over Spottedleaf's shoulders and steered her away from the spot where she had lain.

She led her along the treeline to a river. With a jolt Spottedleaf realized the territory looked remarkably similar to the old Forest Territories—identical, in fact.

"You're probably thirsty; after you've had a drink we can talk."

Spottedleaf suddenly noticed that her throat was burning and when she dipped her tongue in the rushing water it was the most refreshing thing she had ever tasted. She let her tongue simply loll in the current for a moment; then she began to pull the wonderful liquid into her muzzle and down her blistering throat. As the waterfall made its' way through her body, it was like a fresh rainfall blessing a desert with a rare source of life.

Finally, Spottedleaf turned to the she-cat beside her.

"Uh… who are you? I was in StarClan, and now I'm… wait, where's here? Moth Flight told me there were other levels, but I thought it was a dream! How can there be anything greater than StarClan?" Spottedleaf gasped as a handsome red face flashed in front of her mind, his green eyes filled with heartbreak. She gasped. "Firestar! What about him? I need him! How can I get to him? I—"

Something fluffy covered her mouth. The calico had placed her tail over her muzzle. "Shush! You're going to drown me with questions! One at a time, please."

Spottedleaf took a breath. "Okay. Who are you?"

"My name is Pindrop."

"_Pindrop? _What's that supposed to mean?"

"You ever heard the phrase, 'So quiet you could hear a pin drop'? It's like that. My housefolk called me that because I was so quiet as a kitten. I got more talkative as time went on, so they said now I was the pin." Pindrop sighed. "That was a _long, _long time ago…" She gazed wistfully into the distance.

"Housefolk? You were a _kittypet?_ How'd I end up in the same place as a kittypet? And anyway, what is this place?"

"Oh, yes. You must be a wild cat. You think we 'kittypets' are weak and stupid, but that's not true. And as to where 'here' is, it has many names, most of them involving 'forget', because it's where cats go once they're forgotten, or, in rare cases, their spirit on a lower level is killed."

_Like me,_ Spottedleaf thought. "What are some of the names?"

"Depends on the cats. Most of them call it something similar to their old homes, like 'The Tribe of Forgotten Souls', or 'ForgottenClan'. Depressing names, if you ask me. So many cats here are so sad…." She trailed off. "Their descendants have forgotten them, and they don't know if those they know that haven't… er… _faded_ from a lower level will ever see them again. They move on from here before they get the chance."

Her head drooped. Spottedleaf suspected that this cat had more to her story than she was letting on.

Pindrop perked up almost immediately, seeming to realize that Spottedleaf's first impression of this new place probably shouldn't be such a miserable thought.

"Anyway, what else did you ask? Something about a star on fire? How would that even work? My housefolk once said they're made of fire, but I don't know if I believe it. They're so small and far away."

"No—not _stars _on _fire. _Firestar! I need him to know I'm okay! He'll think I'm gone… I can't tolerate him that miserable! He was only an apprentice when I died the first time; it was bad enough for him then, knowing I was in StarClan. What about now, when he doesn't _know_ there's another level? I have to get to him!"

Pindrop looked baffled and a little overwhelmed. "Firestar? That's an odd name. And anyway, it's something that every cat goes through; you think it's easy for _any_ of us to leave behind our loved ones?"

A small something pounced on Spottedleaf's tail, making her jump. Jerking around, she saw the white kit that had first woken her. She'd forgotten he was here.

"You're tail's _perfect_ for this!" he squeaked excitedly. "Oh, and also, I can help you with your Liar-tar."


End file.
